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Government

Munich Reverses Course, May Ditch Linux For Microsoft 579

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the campaign-funding-brought-to-you-by-windows dept.
alphadogg (971356) writes with news that the transition from Windows to GNU/Linux in Munich may be in danger The German city of Munich, long one of the open-source community's poster children for the institutional adoption of Linux, is close to performing a major about-face and returning to Microsoft products. Munich's deputy mayor, Josef Schmid, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that user complaints had prompted a reconsideration (Google translation to English) of the city's end-user software, which has been progressively converted from Microsoft to a custom Linux distribution — "LiMux" — in a process that dates back to 2003.

Comment I think that's pretty damn good relative to other (Score 1) 561

by Assmasher (#47661739) Attached to: Apple's Diversity Numbers: 70% Male, 55% White

...tech companies.

That doesn't mean it's good enough, but having 20% female tech workers? That's great compared to my experience in the industry.

It was 4 years into my career before I met my first female software engineer at work, and there were two out of 80. This was the valley back in the 90's though.

Comment People talk about Micro$oft as if they should be.. (Score 0) 337

by Assmasher (#47646123) Attached to: Microsoft Surface Drowning?

...Apple.

They both want profits and revenue, they just look to different markets to do it. (There is, of course, overlap.)

Apple is all about the consumer space, and very little about business.

Microsoft is all about the business space, and very little about the consumer except in the console space (and the way the XBox One is going, that may not be for long anyhow...)

I'll be honest, I didn't expect much from the initial Surface and so I wasn't disappointed. The Surface 2 I thought was a mistake. The Surface 3 Pro that I used a few months ago - is pretty freaking awesome.

While Apple is pushing the consumer entertainment perspective of devices, Microsoft is going to lead the way to the PC/tablet/phone convergence in the work place. Yet again, they will succeed through Exchange and Office.

The irony being that Microsoft doesn't mind making money in the tablet space, but they really don't care about that. They care about ensuring that in 2018, whatever Phablet your company supplies you with (or requires you to buy to work there) is running MS Office 2018 and connecting to Exchange Server 2018...
Microsoft

Video Microsoft's Olivier Bloch Explains Microsoft Open Source (Video) 101

Posted by Roblimo from the we're-open-source-or-maybe-we're-not-we're-trying-to-figure-it-all-out dept.
Most of us don't think of Microsoft when our thoughts turn to open source. This is probably because the company's main products, Windows and Office, are so far from open that just thinking about them probably violates their user agreement.. But wait! says Olivier Bloch, Senior Technical Evangelist at Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., we have lots and lots of open source around here. Look at this. And this and this and even this. Lots of open source. Better yet, Olivier works for Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., not directly for the big bad parent company. Watch the video or read the transcript, and maybe you'll figure out where Microsoft is going with their happy talk about open source. (Alternate Video Link)
Networking

Verizon Throttles Data To "Provide Incentive To Limit Usage" 316

Posted by timothy from the tell-me-more-about-the-word-unlimited dept.
An anonymous reader writes About a week ago, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked for Verizon's justification on its policy of throttling users who pay for unlimited data usage. "I know of no past Commission statement that would treat 'as reasonable network management' a decision to slow traffic to a user who has paid, after all, for 'unlimited' service," the FCC wrote. In its response, Verizon has indicated that its throttling policy is meant to provide users with an incentive to limit their data usage. The company explained that "a small percentage of the customers on these [unlimited] plans use disproportionately large amounts of data, and, unlike subscribers on usage-based plans, they have no incentive not to do so during times of unusually high demand....our practice is a measured and fair step to ensure that this small group of customers do not disadvantage all others."
Businesses

Comcast Confessions 234

Posted by Soulskill from the beancounters-shouldn't-run-the-show dept.
An anonymous reader writes: We heard a couple weeks ago about an incredibly pushy Comcast customer service representative who turned a quick cancellation into an ordeal you wouldn't wish on your enemies. To try and find out what could cause such behavior, The Verge reached out to Comcast employees, hoping a few of them would explain training practices and management directives. They got more than they bargained for — over 100 employees responded, and they painted a picture of a corporation overrun by the neverending quest for greater profit. From the article: 'These employees told us the same stories over and over again: customer service has been replaced by an obsession with sales, technicians are understaffed and tech support is poorly trained, and the massive company is hobbled by internal fragmentation. ... Brian Van Horn, a billing specialist who worked at Comcast for 10 years, says the sales pitch gradually got more aggressive. "They were starting off with, 'just ask," he says. "Then instead of 'just ask,' it was 'just ask again,' then 'engage the customer in a conversation,' then 'overcome their objections.'" He was even pressured to pitch new services to a customer who was 55 days late on her bill, he says.'

Comment Re:Hm. I wonder if the sintering can take a punch? (Score 2) 71

I was seriously wondering that myself since titanium is difficult to deal with despite the fact that aerospace engineers would like to use it for a large number of parts, so I did a quick Google and I found this:

"Tests by EOS customers have compared the properties of laser-sintered titanium parts to those of cast or wrought titanium parts, and found that the DMLS parts can have significantly better mechanical properties. Typically, titanium parts made with DMLS have an ultimate tensile strength of 1,200Mpa + 30Mpa (175ksi + 4ksi), comparable to or stronger than conventionally manufactured titanium components"

Now, that should be taken with a grain of salt since it was provided by a company that does Direct Metal Laser Sintering, but it certainly sounds damn good.

Just be careful, you have to use low oxygen contents in the powder itself and argon to work in since it is HIGHLY reactive in its molten state.

I'm sure it is hysterically expensive right now, but has huge potential since traditional titanium work is both hard on machines/tool and requires lots of cooling.

Very, very cool.

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